Seeing the need: One man's brush with death leads to a life of helping the homeless

JACKSON, MI – Starting the engine to his silver Chevrolet Tahoe, Ben Puhr prepares to start his day driving through the streets of Jackson.

As he pulls out of his parking spot on Michigan Avenue near Mechanic Street, the sun is just beginning to rise over the Consumers Energy building.

He does not get paid for what he is about to do, and he does not want recognition.

He wants to find and help the homeless in Jackson.

As he drives, the 41-year-old from Munith, talks about where he looks for the homeless: the library, bus station, alleys and other known spots. He talks about the organization he helped co-found, Homeless Assistance Leadership Organization (HALO) with several friends. And he talks about looking at people’s shoes, which “tells their story.”

Puhr’s story

Puhr’s desire to help the homeless came from a brush with death after he was diagnosed with Wegeners Granulmatosis, a rare auto-immune disease, three years ago and from growing up with a mother who cared for and helped those in need.

“It’s the way I was raised,” Puhr said. “I always did what I could. I was very close to death for a long time, and as I got better I had a strange sense of purpose.”

Growing up, Puhr said his mother would take in hitchhikers or find people needing food. She would bring them home and cook for them.

As Puhr grew into adulthood, he raised two children with his soon to be ex-wife. He did what he could to help, but he was cautious because times have changed and he did not want to put his children in danger.

“I grew up helping people. I always did what I could do with two kids,” said Puhr, whose children are 20 and 15. “When they were little, I was cautious.”

Roughly six months ago, Puhr and a group of friends started HALO as a self-funded outreach program that uses donations to help the homeless in Jackson County. Puhr said he often looks up who he meets on the Jackson District Court website to see what type of person he is dealing with and if they are truly needing help and want to better themselves.

HALO has been growing steadily for the past six months, and Puhr said there are roughly 250 members who want to help by donating to HALO. There is a group of five individuals who dedicate and donate their free time by hitting the streets to engage people, offer food and hygiene products and to point the homeless to organizations designed to help them.

“Most (homeless individuals) say they are looking for a hand up, not a handout,” Puhr said. “Sometimes, talking to them is the best gift you can give them. They are used to being kicked when they are down; they just want to be treated with respect.

“Just a simple ‘Hi, how are you?’ or a smile could make their whole week.”

HALO’S story

Puhr and HALO offer more than that. He, along with a couple others, drive almost daily to look for homeless individuals and offer assistance in the form of food, survival items and information on programs and organizations designed to help.

Puhr also has canned or packaged food items and clothing in his vehicle, so when he comes across somebody on the streets who is homeless, he can offer him or her something to eat or a pair of shoes.

“Our resources are limited, so we try to make sure these are going out to people who are trying to do the right thing and trying to help themselves,” Puhr said. “So many people are victims of circumstances. They ran out of places to go.”

Part of the influence behind starting HALO came in November 2012 when Puhr saw a friend had posted a message on Facebook asking for shoes for two homeless people he saw walking around Jackson. One was wearing flip-flops and the other dress shoes with no soles and three sizes too big.

“He asked if anyone was interested in helping, and I said, ‘absolutely.’” Puhr said. “He called me and took me to buy a pair of boots.”

That experience convinced Puhr that he wanted to help those in need and he started making contacts throughout the community for assistance. Those first two individuals were Joe and Burt. Puhr said when he first met them they were living in an abandoned warehouse.

Puhr said community members and residents stepped up to help them after reading Facebook posts HALO made with helping these two individuals.

The organization was able to raise roughly $400 to purchase a bus ticket, food, clothes, haircut and personal items for Joe, who was originally from Texas. The ticket cost $180. Puhr said they were able to provide so much for Joe to get him on the right track for a new life; they had to ship boxes of items to him.

Joe is now in Texas, and Burt has been accepted to stay at a public housing complex in Jackson.

The organization does as much as it can to help those who want help. Puhr said HALO has a storage unit where donated items are stored to give the homeless in the area. Burt received a mattress, a chair and a desk for his unit.

“As funds allow, we work with a couple places, and they work with us very well, to get them temporary housing,” Puhr said. “That gets them off the street, gives them a bath, a full belly and helps rejuvenate them before they have to go back out.”

Puhr said his dream for HALO is to spread awareness of the program so if people know of a homeless person or see one, they know who to contact. He also wants to make a shelter that will be open 24-hours, seven days a week.

“I used to take what I had for granted,” Puhr said. “Two miles to get somewhere is not a big deal. Well, that could be an hour walk each way to get to warmth (for the homeless).”